jhb171achill

One of the DD sets today had a zebra on it. Not sure which of the two.

Indeed - a pattern repeated in many areas of the country. Looking through Barry Carse's vast array of photos of beet operations a few years ago while selecting images for our last book, it was amazing to see what could still be witnessed even in the early years of this century - and that was but a tiny fraction of what was hauled in the 1950s and 60s.

Many thanks for that. With an existing mix of Provincial Leslie’s Bullieds, and various wooden-bodied opens, as also seen in beet trains up to about 1971/2, and forthcoming IRM Bullieds, I will need this stuff! At some stage I want to replicate the busiest of days at Dugort Harbour with the place choked with beet wagons, loaders, ramps for trucks, and the one-coach passenger train barely able to get in…. It isn’t so convincing with “laden” trains consisting of trucks as empty as the “empty” ones!

Only seeing this now. Fantastic and highly original detail. It’s things like that which make layouts of any size, big or small, fascinating to study.

Ehh, mister, can I get a single to Dundalk?

Bit like us with England!

VERY nice!

Help! I can access IRM on this iPhone as it’s always logged in. However, my desktop won’t accept a log-in now, and won’t let me change my password. Any ideas?

That's a very good point! My understanding is that we don't have to do anything, but I've an order in for one example of each type of coach and each number, so I certainly don't want to lose it (Dempsey; that'll be another light weathering job!). Plus, on Hattons site, it says (or said) that all in this range are "sold out on pre-order".

I'd say that's right.

The CIE green used was the standard lighter shade used on any coaches painted after 1955, and any green diesels after the D class. The Phoenix Donegal red as shown in that ad is definitely not quite right - it was very slightly darker. Probably it's their advertisement rather than the paint - I hope so!

Seen from the field across the road, on a cold January morning in 1959. With the resident J15 away for a boiler washout, A30 shunts the morning passenger set at Dugort Harbour. The silver loco and tin van will look better once they get a new coat of green paint. They are joined by a Park Royal and an old six-wheeler which is ekeing out its last days on the local.

Let me know by PM. I'm involved with this museum. We are trying to look at ways of having new events this year - and that would be an excellent one. He used tinplate and he used shaped wooden blocks to bend things round. he was an excellent tinsmith. One or two of the wooden blocks have survived - I think there's one on that table. I was in yesterday at one stage - pity I missed you! Bogies, wheels, etc., were a mix of bought ones and ones he cast hyimself. The self-cast ones are generally very brittle nowadays and must be handled with extreme care. Worth pointing out that as of now, while the museum is open today for the bank holiday, on an ongoing basis it is closed Mondays and Tuesdays for maintenance etc. Opening is 10:00 - 17:00 (last admission 16:30), Wednesdays to Sundays inclusive.

Sadly, yes - pity those who set these fires don't forget to leave the premises when they torch them!

I just KNEW it!

Pictured at Lansdowne Rd some years ago. What is it, when was it built, what does it do, and is it still in use, and if so, where - or, was it withdrawn, and when?

W O W W O W

This is precisely what we lack. If its related to 1690 or 1916 we'll mark it. If it's cultural we probably will. Industrial heritage - per head of the population here - nope. Your New Zealand comparison puts us to shame, and we've 7 million on this island nowadays!

Sounds interesting - can we have more details - what sizes, what prices, etc...... Excellent project. I must look and see if I can send you anything I have. I think I've some Donegal carriage drawings somewhere.

I do know that Jackie (West Clare) applied for several grants to develop Moyasta further. The waste ground upon which the ITG equipment currently lies would have been developed as a railway museum, and a couple of proper West Clare carriages would have been built. Major upgrades to the station building would have been also required. I saw the grant application, which was professionally prepared for Jackie. Unfortunately, though, it was ultimately unsuccessful. These grants can be given to voluntary bodies too. Private individuals won't have any luck, and businesses have a whole pile more hurdles to jump. In order to access these grants - most of them anyway - a properly run body like a preservation society or some other type of heritage body with a committee, constitution, etc., is usually necessary. As an aside, possibly uniquely, in Ireland - several of the heritage-type railway schemes are privately owned by one (or maybe two) individuals. While this does not officially bar them from grants, as such, it makes eligibility more difficult. I've had personal experience of preparing applications for a number of projects. One - relating to Downpatrick some 25 years ago - came up aganist this issue. At the time, the DCDR was not operated as it is now, as a democratically run society with elected officers, but it was in the course of changing to that. Once this was the case, and the Downpatrick & Ardglass Rly Co (privately owned by about half a dozen founder members) had been dissolved and the assets placed in the hands of the new registered charity, Downpatrick & Co Down Railway, both local authority and other grants were instantly available.

Let’s hope so!

Jayyyyysus

Like the Giant's Causeway Tramway did in the 1880s! Or the White House if trump reappears! Indeed - many governments, and many company boardrooms...................

As one who was involved in the financial "cleaning up" after the fire years ago at Whitehead, when the local walking sewage burned out half a dozen carriages, I would say it most certainly IS the biggest disaster to hit preservation here, ever, and by a factor of maybe ten times the second worst. Again, great sympathy for those closer to the action than i am these days, and we must all direct our wallets this way as far as we can.